Asteroids, earthquakes, and lions -- oh my

There's a lot of interesting "Mathisen-Corollary-related" news lately, most of which you've probably already noticed and been thinking about, if you spend much time reading this blog.

First up, taking place on November 8, is a fly-by of an asteroid named Asteroid 2005 YU55. It will be daytime in California for much of the asteroid's closest passage, but even for those observers in parts of the globe where it will be dark, this asteroid will be somewhat difficult to detect.

It will require a telescope trained to the correct portion of the sky, but since it is a "dark object" that doesn't reflect much light, 2005 YU55 may still be hard to pick up. Here are a couple of articles that can help if you're in the position to give it a shot: from Universe Today and from Sky & Telescope.

As we have discussed previously, certain details about asteroids appear to provide powerful evidence which supports the hydroplate theory of Dr. Walt Brown (see also the discussion of Trojan asteroids, here).

Elsewhere in the news, Oklahoma was rocked over the weekend by an unusually strong 5.6 earthquake (part of a series of quakes including a 4.7 that hit the same part of Oklahoma this weekend, building up to the 5.6 quake Saturday night) -- another example of earthquakes far from so-called "tectonic plate boundaries" that are supposed to be the major triggers for quake activities. This article states that "scientists are puzzled by the recent seismic activity." Here is a link to a previous discussions about the earthquake in Virginia earlier this year, far from plate boundaries.

More interesting are the allegations being discussed that perhaps the process of hydraulic fracturing might have triggered the recent earthquakes in Oklahoma (which are raised in the same article linked previously). A spokesman for the Oklahoma commission that oversees oil and gas production in the state revealed that there are 181 injection wells in the county that experienced most of the weekend quakes. We have written before that the hydroplate theory clearly predicts that activity involving injection of water deep into the ground can trigger earthquakes (see the discussions here and here).

Finally, the planet Mars is passing through the constellation Leo the Lion, and is now very close to Leo's brightest star, Regulus (or alpha Leonis). To find Mars in Leo in the pre-dawn sky, check out the diagram for the eastern part of the sky (fairly high up, almost overhead) one hour before sunrise which is located in this Sky & Telescope article (scroll down through the page to find the pre-dawn diagram, rather than the post-sunset diagram that is higher up in the article).

If you are unfamiliar with the constellation Leo, it may help to think of the "rhino's tail" from the Panel of the Wounded Man at Lascaux. Use the familiar constellations of Orion and Auriga to locate the Twins, and the Lion will be following the Twins (this previous post shows Orion, Auriga and the Twins, and this previous post explains how to find Auriga).

We have previously discussed the theory in some detail, put forward most extensively in Hamlet's Mill by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend in 1969, that the familiar myths of ancient gods and goddesses may actually be vessels used to transmit very scientific understanding of the earth and the heavens. See, for instance, this previous post explaining why the story of Ares and Aphrodite being caught in a net may represent the passage of the planets Mars and Venus through the Pleiades.

The passage of the planet Mars through the constellation Leo the Lion may well appear in myths around the world of a supernaturally strong man slaying a lion (such as the famous episode with the Nemean Lion in the Twelve Labors of Hercules).

This alone is reason enough to get up early to look for Mars near Regulus in the pre-dawn sky. Just watch out for earthquakes and asteroids if you do.